By Angel Lea Regalado | January 26, 2021
Everyday, countless lives are lost due to multiple causes. It reaches the point that each one has a story to tell about loving and losing, a story that could compare to the short film “If Anything Happens I Love You.”
Directed and written by Will McCormack and Michael Govier, the Netflix animated short film will tug at the viewer’s heartstrings, bringing you on a journey of a mother and father struggling to heal from a devastating incident that would leave a hole in their hearts forever.
“If Anything Happens I Love You” was a great hit across the internet as it birthed an emotional trend on the social media platform Tiktok, with users posting a video of their reactions after watching the short film coupled with the hashtag #IfAnythingHappensILoveYou. This hashtag has garnered a total of 63.1 million views on the app, allowing the short film to go viral.
The short film embodies the saying less is more with the use of the simplest elements to create a deep and emotional story. Having been animated in black and white, the film was able to set the tone of the journey it entails with the use of the visual elements alone. With the sparse use of colors, highlighting key objects that contribute largely to the plot, and no use of any dialogue, the film relied heavily on the animation to tell the story. However, the lack of dialogue made the film’s message much more meaningful and universal.
Garnering 14 wins and 5 nominations in film festivals across the world since its release back in November 20, this 12-minute short film is something you wouldn’t want to miss and is definitely worth every minute. Netflix has also revealed “If Anything Happens I Love You” as a contender for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in the 2021 Academy Awards.
The past year has been a perfect example of the uncertainty that life can bring. COVID-19 has shown no mercy as it can take away anybody from the youth to the elderly, from friends to your family. The world continues to remind us that life is short and can easily be taken away by catastrophes ranging from the school shootings in the United States of America to the extra-judicial killings here in our country, the Philippines. If this movie can nudge us to do at least one thing, it’s to message our loved ones, wherever they may be right now, that “if anything happens, I love you.”
